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Old 06-08-2017, 03:50 PM   #27
Kuruharan
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold
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Kuruharan is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.Kuruharan is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.Kuruharan is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.
Boots

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zigūr View Post
I suspect that without the One there was a much higher possibility of resistance being maintained despite his victory, even as desperate and isolated pockets. With the One in his possession he would, presumably, be able to eradicate all opposition, however slight, and maintain this state of affairs for a much longer period of time.

For instance I imagine that his already vast empire, were the West added to it, would have been extremely unwieldy to control without the One allowing him to dominate the wills of his subjects. This may have particularly been a problem in the West as many of the older realms knew of him and his evil, which might have made their subjugation much more difficult than the wide lands to the East and South which had been blinded by the Shadow since the Elder Days.

Lacking the One would have also made it much more difficult for him to attack Rivendell and Lórien, perhaps impossible without coming himself, which would have possibly been a risk he was reluctant to take.

Overall I think it's a question of the pervasiveness and stability of his control with and without the One in his possession.
While the elimination of the defenses of Rivendell and Lorien is a good point, I'm not convinced regarding Sauron's domination of the wills of his subjects. In some respects the Ring doesn't seem to have helped him much in that regard. His forces abandoned him when confronted with the Numenoreans (which could be interpreted as a feint). The Faithful (mere men) continued to defy him, some of them in person. It is ambiguous if Sauron had the Ring with him then, but the fact that Tolkien himself laid out a scenario for Sauron's possession of the Ring in Numenor potentially strengthens the case of Sauron having it there.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zigūr View Post
there was no one present to represent two of the major powers of the North, Erebor and Dale, who would have come under Sauron's 'East of the Anduin' dominion.
Gimli was there, but I suppose he couldn't claim to represent his people.
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